Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-08-30
THE SHAMELESS.
Haunts OF the Silent Death.DealeTs at
Jabalpur-H0w the Thugs
Are Being
Reformed Under English Rulc-Whet lie
10000 Work" OF the Order Was
in Former Years,
Kar sas City Times.

.
cutta), "now tat you have seen the
ruins Of the Hindu citadel, sni been Yer
the native captonment, and viei.ed tie
temple on the nil yo-Ger, and e0Ee
round the marble r0cks' Lf me Ner-
buddha, there's nothing left Tor yea 70
see here excepc Inc thugs"
The grim name seems 10 strike upon
me with e sudden chill, often though l
heard = Doiore; tor i Is CEs hi. 9 10
hear OF read scout the iCiriDI9 "s;-&GE-
lers" OF the cas-, and qIitc another
thing 20 ind CCesclf unexpectedly
face 20 face with them. More
over, although l have already seen crdil-
cry IaUrdcrers By the score, in Siberian
chain gangs, West Indian peLitealisries,
Brazilian prisons, Turkish ana Syrian
fortres=eE, t1is IS my fist experience Of
men Wao turn murder Itself into Teli-
gioU, rTSY GuyoUily Tor It's success and
cftGr up heartfelt thank: giving 70 heaven
when !. is done.
''Tne }1Ugsl' echoes an American
touIiss WHO has the next room to ours,
stepping 0U5 suddenly up-n the yeTsuds.
'fWs!l, I'm Just starting out 10 have &
lock ct thsn myself, 60, # you ana your
lady are ready % so, guess we cal ell |
start toge .her."
away we all three go accordingly,
along TIC broad, strdi gh., dusty highrOad, |
wliCn Is fortunately shaded 20 some eX-
tent from the burning sun by the VAST,
bancer-Iike leaves Of the palm trees that !
stand ranked like soldiers along either |
side OF The Wey, alternating with clumps |
Of fes.aCrY bamb0OS, whose crested tips, |
tGpcri1g ike gigantic fishing poles, sway
languioiy ia the morning Iresze.
& FD TO- 4 4I,ol
beautiful little green parcqdets that are
fitting to snd tro overhead With impi5b
sore ches, shriN cry makes Us spring
aside inst IN time TO cvoid 81 enormous
elephant that comes tr6mping round
bend 81 the r0ad, with 3 perfect mountsin
Of forage on It's back, while the slim,
sharp-ieatured mahout (irirer) whose
brown LIMOS sud white robe make HIN
look ike @ cigar wrapped in paper,
sits perCheG on lis neck and urges it or
with &n occasional prod o. his short iron
hook.
"Who ere these thugs, snyhow?" asks
the AGler.l al, as we move on again. 81
Just know that they're always numbering
people, and that's about all l do know"
"WoA,n ssld l, "m0St OF WHIST know
comes from Colonel Siiernsn and Colonel
Meadows Taylor, who were the caief
agents in putting them down. The orig
inal system, ages ago, was simply . CON
tinu2I human sacrifice to Kali, The gcd
GEES Of murder, from whom Calcutta
(h2IKUttah, or kall's tCmplel took It's
name. The theory we5 that the earth
was oyerpe0pled and that Kali's servants,
the thugs, had to clear off the supertiuous
popu, atioa by a little judicIous murder
ing every now and then. SO Whenever
they could waylay eny man il G lcaelg
place, they strsngled him with silk
handkerchief and then buried him; and
tcis they called ".ha good work.
81 wonder what they'd call q bad
WuIk, theG," mutters my companion.
" ELL this went On for sges upon ages,
without anyone having the le2st sus-
picion OF il. Men kept disappearing here
and there eLd nobody knew how. At
first the murders were simply g religious
rite, without any aftsTthought OF plunGer;
but afterward they began to combine
ROBBERY with murder, and to pick out IS
victims those who were worth plum
deriEg However, the English
hal been in India for years be-
fore anyone dreamed that thug
gee existed. Al last 3 thug chief, being
under sentence for some crime, betrayed
his comrades 20 save his own life; and
then the whole story came out and the
thugs were seized and imprisoned. At
first the British commissioner Of the dis
trict where the discovery was msde
wouldn't believe th3t ell these horrors
could have been going or so long without
being found out; but when the old chief
dug up thirteen skeletons on the very
spot where the commissioner tent was
pitched, he began to change his mind,
But here we are at the place.
We halt suddenly before a tall, gray,
gloomy building, 81 the door Of which
announce myself as newspaper CORE
spondent, and We are at once admitted,
although the Hindu janitor looks with no
small wonder at Mrs. Ker as she enters,
and asks whether the bibi logue (lady) is
q correspondent too.
Just then up comes the English inspec-
tor, who gceets US heartily ard ushers US
into what looks at first eight like ''chil-
dren's Industrial school' in full action.
Scores Of little brown figures ere plaitirg
baskets, twisting ropes, or cutting out
sheets Of canvas for tent-making, as
buSIiy as bees
"But where on earth ere the muir
derers?" cries my American friend,
staring around him in smazement. ''If
these children are precocious enough to
strange grown men already they 60
g long wsy ahead of our Yankee boys al
hCme,h
90 this is only reformatory," says
the inspector, laughing, "where we keep
the children OF the thugs, or tugs as
they are really cslled-a very good name
for strangers, by the by. The papas are
in their villages just across the road
which they're never allowed to leave
and if you will Wen go over and look 81
them"
On the other side OF the rosd stands 6
high bamboo palissde, above which peer
the grass thatches CT number of tiny
native huts. The one narrow entrance
of this Enclosure is guarded by msgnif-
cent Sikh soldier-tall, strong and shape
~ as bronze statue of Hercules-whoss
bold, swathy face and keen black eyes
look very picturesque beneath his Grim
son turban. After exchanging q word Of
two with our conductor, he steps bach
with s military salute to let us pass in
and the next moment we ore standing smiC
the most formidable gang of murderers
upon the face of the earth.
The theory that every man wears on hi.
countenarce the stamp Of his nature il
true only within certain limits. Many O
the great criminals whom l have seeI
bore in their faces terrible warning o
what they were; but with the thugs o
Ioh is These hurnar